Important commercial opportunities await nonwoven fibrous webs that are suitably stretchable, elastic and strong. Such webs could be useful to make a garment form-fitting, or to make a cuff, neck-line or other portion of a garment elastically retain its shape. Or such webs could provide breathable, soft, lightweight, cloth-like fabrics. Also, such webs tend to be of high friction, which can be useful in a number of applications.
Recognizing the opportunities, many prior workers have sought to produce elastic nonwoven fibrous webs. Their prior work is represented in the patent literature, which includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,686,385; 4,707,398; 4,820,572; 4,891,957; 5,322,728; 5,366,793; 5,470,639; and 5,997,989.
While the prior work may have met some needs, many opportunities remain unsatisfied. In general, the prior efforts have not produced a fibrous web having an adequate combination of stretchability, elasticity, bondability and strength to fulfill many of the visualized opportunities.